Seventeen ships from the United States, Australia, Canada and Japan sailed together in formation earlier this week to begin Exercise Talisman Sabre 2019 in the Coral Sea.
The Coral Sea, the site of a pivotal World War II naval battle, is located off the northeast coast of Australia.
The exercise is focused on defending the rights, freedoms, and uses of the sea, air, space and cyberspace in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Interoperability and working alongside allies and partners really is the future, particularly in the Pacific. It’s just too important, too large a region, for us not to reach out and work together with our great allies and partners in the region,” said Rear Admiral Fred Kacher, commander or Expeditionary Strike Group 7.
Among the U.S. Navy ships in the exercise are the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan; amphibious assault ship USS Wasp; guided-missile cruiser USS Chancellorsville; guided-missile destroyers USS William P. Lawrence and USS McCampbell; submarine USS Key West; and Coast Guard cutter USCGC Stratton.
Allied ships involved include two Australian helicopter dock-landing ships, the HMAS Canberra and HMAS Adelaide; Japan’s amphibious transport dock JS Kunisaki and helicopter destroyer JS Ise; and Canada’s frigate HMCS Regina auxiliary oiler MV Asterix.
“Talisman Sabre ‘19 is a tremendous opportunity for the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group to train in a joint and combined environment, improve our sailors’ proficiency and sharpen our war-fighting skills,” said Rear Admiral Karl Thomas.
“As a forward deployed force, we routinely train and operate alongside our allies, partners and friends, but complex exercises like this ensure we can operate seamlessly as one lethal and cohesive team throughout this important Indo-Pacific region,” he added.
